"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," the author, James Thurber, contrasts that real life of the character, Walter Mitty, to the fantasy world he has created.

Amber Campbell

Dual English 1020

Mr. Dykes

In the story, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” the author, James Thurber, contrasts that real life of the character, Walter Mitty, to the fantasy world he has created. Walter Mitty, unhappy with his everyday life and his nit-picking wife, fades in and out of reality. To escape reality, he envisions himself as a brave, strong hero who is admired by others. His fantasies allow him to escape the boring life he lives. Sparked by events in his real life, his fantasies take him to World War II as a pilot who saves his crew from a severe storm to being a world famous surgeon. The more his wife nags, the more he becomes a victim in his fantasies. He even dreams of being on trial for murder and standing in front of a firing squad, and Walter still stands tall and proud (Thurber).

I identify with the character of Walter Mitty very much. I find myself daydreaming all the time. Mitty feels like he wants to leave reality and live in his dreams. Many times, I find myself dreaming things that I really would not like to happen in reality, but are fun to daydream about. Walter Mitty did exactly this when he was dreaming of being in front of the firing squad (Thurber).

Have you ever had a Walter Mitty moment? Sure we all have! It does not just happen to people today buy happened to Peter in the Bible. When he ...

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Have you ever had a Walter Mitty moment? Sure we all have! It does not just happen to people today buy happened to Peter in the Bible. When he called out to Jesus asking if it was really the Lord requesting to him to walk on water also. But for Peter, unlike Walter Mitty, reality trumped fantasy, for he fled at the first sign of danger and lost faith when faced with the reality of it, only he was dealing with God and Jesus reached out and caught him just as he began to sink (Matthew 14:28-3). That often happens with a Walter Mitty moment.

I wonder where we would be without our Walter Mitty moments. “Where there is no vision, the people perish”, says a proverb (Proverbs 29:18). Without the dream of a new, free land, the Pilgrims would have stayed in England, and in fact we might not be here today. Without out dreams we would all be condemned to the life of Walter Mitty. His fantasies never went beyond the tiny box of his brain. His fantasies never became dreams, and his dreams never became reality.

I am the kind of person who loves making dreams come true. I guess this is why this story appeals to me. The first time I read this story I realized that Walter Mitty was bored with his life and he used his imagination to dream and try to make life a little more exciting. I thought the story was really funny and that is also why I liked it at first. Then I sought deeper meaning. I said to myself “Why doesn’t this guy just make his life more exciting and fulfill some of his fantasies?” Then it registered, I wondered then what the world would be like if everyone lived their dream. I believe if everyone that has a dream and would truly like to live their dream that they should reach for it. Even if they do not achieve their dream, if they only try to make their dream a reality they will come much closer to achieving it than if they had never tired in the first place.